Glossary Term – Person

Glossary Term – Person

Jefferson Davis graduated from West Point in 1828 and served in Iowa under Colonel Zachary Taylor. He left the Army in June 1835 to marry Taylor’s daughter Sarah (against her father’s wishes) and begin a career as a planter in Mississippi, though Sarah soon died of malaria. Davis entered the US House of Representatives in 1845 but resigned the following year to join a Mississippi volunteer regiment (of which he was elected colonel) in the Mexican-American War. In Mexico, Davis once again served under Taylor. He was wounded in the heel while...

Glossary Term – Person

Winfield Scott (1786–1866), “Old Fuss and Feathers,” was the associate of every president from Jefferson to Lincoln. Scott entered the military in 1809 and distinguished himself during the War of 1812 at the battles of Chippewa and Lundy’s Lane. He went on to serve in the Black Hawk War and the campaign against the Seminole and Creole Indians. After mediating an Anglo-American dispute over the Canadian border in 1838, Scott was appointed general-in-chief of the US Army in 1841. Due to his successes in the Mexican-American War (1846–1848),...

Glossary Term – Person

James K. Polk (1795–1849), the eleventh president, led the United States during the Mexican-American War. Polk began his career as a lawyer before being elected to the Tennessee legislature in 1823. In Tennessee Polk became a close associate of Andrew Jackson, and he went on to serve in the US House of Representatives from 1825 to 1839, and then as governor of Tennessee from 1839 to 1841. In 1844, Polk improbably beat out Martin Van Buren, James Buchanan, and Lewis Cass for the Democratic nomination for president. He won the election over...

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Teaching Resource

Over the course of three lessons the students will analyze two primary source documents that represent two different points of view on the Mexican-American War. The first document is a speech delivered by then President James K. Polk justifying America’s war with Mexico and asking the United States Congress for a declaration of war. The second document is a speech by Congressman Joshua Giddings during the debate in the House of Representatives that questions the President’s motives for and handling of the coming...